Outta My Mind
by An-Artsy-Girl
Summary: Set After Maya's Death. Emily has told Paige that she just wants to be friends. Paige, however has other ideas. A cute, fun, story about the two girls and how their relationship for each other changes. Paily, Paige McCullers, Emily Fields
1. A Desire to Love

OUTTA MY MIND

There she was. Sitting there behind her desk. Her hair fell onto her shoulders so perfectly. She lifted up her pencil and jotted down a few notes. Her eyes darted back up to the board. Those soft, beautiful brown eyes…

"Paige?"

The sound of her name snapped the girl back to reality. The History teacher was standing in front of the board. She had obviously just asked Paige a question. Paige scanned the board nervously, trying to figure out what they had been talking about. Nothing seemed to fit together.

She took a random guess.

"Uh… Slavery?"

The teacher shook her head, irritated.

The girl who Paige had been watching previously raised her hand slowly.

The teacher saw her out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes Emily?"

"That would be the War of 1812." She said softly, glancing quickly over at Paige. Paige felt her face redden. The teacher nodded to Emily and then looked back over at Paige.

"McCullers, pay attention to the lesson from now on,"

Paige looked down and nodded.

The bell rang, which Paige was relieved by. All of the students started to pack up their belongings, and the teacher wiped away the notes she had written on the white board. Paige watched as Emily grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder as she got up out of her seat.

Something inside Paige told her to go over to Emily. She slowly walked over to where Emily was putting her notebooks in her bag.

Emily looked up at Paige.

"Oh hey," she smiled.

Paige felt herself stiffen.

"Hey, Thanks for... for answering for me..." she said softly.

"Hey it's no problem," Emily said grinning.

Paige was at a loss for words. The two girls stood there awkwardly. Paige shifted from one foot to another before saying,

"Uh I guess I'll go now," she said bowing her head. She turned and left quickly.

Emily watched as she scuttled out the door.

Paige had been acting very strangely around her. Paige had hardly spoken to her. They hadn't really talked since the dance when they had agreed to just be friends. This Paige she was seeing now was different. She didn't seem as strong and confident as she was before. Emily shrugged, grabbing her stuff and walked out of the classroom.

_What the Hell was that?_ Paige thought to herself as she walked quickly down the hallway. Emily was still getting over the fact that Maya was dead. Paige knew that Emily just wanted a friend right now. Why couldn't she just accept that? But, Paige knew deep inside that she wanted Emily to be much more than a friend though.


	2. An Unexpected Request

Paige decided to skip swim practice for fear of seeing Emily again. She walked outside and unchained her bike from the rack. For a minute she stood and felt the cool wind blow on her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a few more seconds she got on her bike and rode away.

Emily was in the locker room changing at an abnormally slow pace. She was waiting for Paige. She needed to talk to her. Paige had told her that she was always going to be there for her as a friend. Where was she now? It was so unlike Paige to miss a swim practice. She was a very competitive girl. And strong. And fast.

Emily shook her head. She needed to focus on practice right now. She finished changing into her swimsuit, grabbed her goggles and headed for the pool.

Paige pulled into Rosewood Park and leaned her bike up against a picnic table. She laid her purse of the top of table and sat down on the bench. She knew she couldn't go home or else her Dad would know she skipped practice.

Paige's Dad was super competitive. Most of time she believed that he cared more about swimming than she did. Paige remembered coming out to her parents. Her Dad hadn't taken it to well. There was a lot yelling and scolding involved. Paige had accepted that her relationship with her Dad was not the best. That was partially why she wanted Emily back. She needed somebody to comfort her and make her feel important again.

All of this was going through Paige's head as she sat on the bench fiddling with sleeve of her sweatshirt. She sniffed as the cold air stung her eyes, which already were filling up with tears. She missed Emily, but she needed to get these thoughts out of her head.

Paige saw someone coming over to her out of the corner of her eye. She wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve and looked up.

It was Spencer Hastings. This completely shocked Paige. What did Spencer want with her? Paige thought that all of Emily's friends hated her. Maybe Spencer was coming over to accuse her of being the notorious 'A'.

Spencer sat down directly across from Paige.

"Hey…" Paige said without looking up from the table.

"Hey." Spencer said back. There was a long silence. Paige looked up at Spencer for a minute.

Her face was serious and contorted. She tapped her fingers on the cold wood of the picnic table. It appeared as if she had something important to say, but wasn't sure how to start. Paige was getting impatient. She shifted uncomfortably.

"I think you should talk to Emily more," Spencer said suddenly.

Paige looked up at her surprised.

"What?"

"I said you need to talk to Emily more. She needs somebody right now. She is not acting like herself anymore. She needs to let somebody in. She won't let any of us in," Spencer paused for a minute, "I think she will let you back into her life. She needs you,"

Paige sat still, not knowing what to say.

Spencer waited a few minutes for Paige for to respond, but then got up to leave.

"Okay," Paige said after a while. Spencer turned back to face Paige.

"Thanks," she smiled and left.

The wind blew through the trees


	3. Visitor

The wind blew through the trees making a few leaves drop from their previous homes where they had been clustered together on the branches. The leaves danced across the wind landing on the table in front of Paige. Paige picked up one of the red and golden leaves while thinking.

Was Spencer right? Was Emily ready to let somebody back into her life? Paige desperately wanted this, but she knew that she had to do what was right for Emily. Dropping the leaf back onto the table, Paige got up and rode her bike back home.

Emily's mind raced as she sat on the cold bench in the locker room. Everybody else had left already. Only she remained. She listened to the water droplets falling from her hair and hitting the cold floor. _Drip, drip, drip,_

Emily desperately missed having someone to be there for her. She had temporarily removed herself from her group of friends, and the endeavors of 'A'. She wasn't sure if she was ready to be in another relationship yet, but she did know one thing. She needed a friend. She knew she could find that in Paige.

Emily quickly changed into her clothes and headed for Paige's house.

Paige lay on her bed staring blankly at her computer screen. She had no motivation to do homework. Her mind was elsewhere. She shut her computer and went over to her dresser where a picture of her and Emily sat. She picked up the picture, smiling.

The doorbell rang.

Paige heard her Dad open the door and start talking with someone.

"She's up in her room."

"Okay thank you Mr. McCullers."

Paige would've recognized that voice anywhere. Emily had come to see her. A wave of panic hit her as she heard the footsteps coming up the stairs. She threw the picture back on top of her dresser and flopped back on her bed.

The door flew open. Emily stood in the door way, her hair dripping. She was wearing a plain grey t-shirt that stuck to her wet body.

Paige bit her bottom lip. How was it possible that this girl always looked so hot?

"You weren't at practice today," Emily said. Her tone wasn't accusing, but it was harsh.

Paige looked away.

"Yeah I needed a day off," She said quietly.

Emily laughed, "_The_ Paige McCullers needed a day off? Since when?" she said jokingly.

Paige giggled and a light blush covered her face. Emily smiled and walked over to sit on the bed next to her.

"What's going on between us McCullers? Why won't you talk to me anymore?"

Paige kept her eyes on the ground.

"Talk to me," Emily pleaded, taking Paige's hand in hers.


End file.
